Try avocado and hummus sandwiches, nutritious and tasty.

If you’re feeling shit after sandwiches and hot dogs, presumably in bread rolls, you could be gluten intolerant.

IANAD.

I make a week of lunches all at once. I have 12 hour shifts so it’s kinda breakfast and lunch that I snack on through the day. I get everything from Aldi so it’s pretty cheap too.

Baby carrots, honeycrisp apple, light string cheese, yogurt, and a sandwich containing lunch meat and cheese and mayo. Recently, I started fridge pickling jalapeños for my sandwiches too, and that was the right call. I have this pretty much every day. I was broke af when I was younger, so eating the same thing every day vs maybe not getting to eat… I learned to really appreciate getting consistent meals even if it’s not something different very often. It’s not for everybody and I understand if this doesn’t sound remotely appealing to you lol.

Cup of noodles is easy and light

One time I made a big batch of gas station style frozen burritos. Just cheese, refried beans, diced tomatoes, and some seasoning and hot sauce. Those were pretty bomb.

I cook large batches of stew every now and then, freeze in 2 or 3 portion packages. Then each sunday I prep some carbs, defrost and pasteurize stew and put it all together. Boom! Lunches ready to go into the work microwaves.

I make a chickpea/garbanzo bean spread:

(1) 15oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I also take the skins off but that’s optional) (1) tbsp of Nutritional yeast (.5) tsp garlic powder (.5) tsp onion powder (.5) tsp salt (1) tbsp lemon juice (.5) tbsp dijon mustard (.5) cup of mayo (any mayo works)

Optional: 1 nori sheet (seaweed adds a fishy flavor)

Instructions: smash everything together with a fork in a bowl until mixed or use a food processor/blender to puree, it should have the consistency of a cheese spread or dip. Serve on anything and keep refrigerated for up to 5 days

If I’m at home, udon noodle soup: just vegetable stock cube in a pot of water, boil it, chuck the noodles in, chuck in whatever you want to put in the soup (I just chop up tofu and one vegetable of my choice), boil for a few mins, and it’s done. Put Laoganma on to serve. Obviously use whatever other noodles you prefer if you have a preference other than udon. Takes like 15 mins total and it’s so simple for something that’s an actual full meal. I don’t take it with me when I’m on the go though, as it’s hard to carry a bowl of noodle soup with you.

For something you can take with you on the go, I’ve been making this vegan smoked tofu carbonara recipe lately. You’ll still need a microwave to heat it up once it’s lunchtime, unless you want to eat cold spaghetti for lunch, but it’s really tasty, especially the tofu.

I’m someone who doesn’t mind repetition/eating leftovers.

So I would swap between leftovers, and then my quick lunch would be 2 hardboiled eggs, some babybel or string cheese, and then some kind of fruit.

Minimal cooking, easy clean up, easy to take with you.

2 eggs, 2 cheese, and a banana is surprisingly filling.

Tuna salad in a Romain lettuce bowl. Some broccoli and almonds or walnuts on the side and a sparkling water

I have been addicted to making ramen eggs (ajitama) for lunches lately. I eat one or two eggs over rice with some furikake or toasted seaweed and that’s all I need to power through the day. You could pair the dish with more veggies or a miso soup if you’re feeling fancy. The nice part is making half a dozen eggs squares me away for the week, so I hardly have to think about what to do.

Another dish I like is Korean steamed eggs (gyeranjjim). It takes not even 10 mins to cook on the stove. Making rice takes longer, and you can make a lot of rice to reheat later in the week. I would cook the eggs fresh each day though , I’m not sure how reheating them would go. The broth that goes with the eggs keeps me fuller than I ever expect.

Baba ghanoush is so tasty when you make it yourself. This requires more effort up front to roast the eggplant, but the dip is good all week. I eat it with carrots, cucumber, cauliflower, and some pita chips.

Regular tuna salad or this chickpea “tuna” salad is always easy to whip up. I always have celery, pickles, and bread on hand so if I’m feeling up for it, I crack open a can of tuna or chickpeas for an easy lunch.

I just pan fry eggs, chicken, shrimp, or fish with onions and garlic. Chop some tomatoes in and eat with rice. It’s alright

Not necessarily specifically a lunch, but a consistent midday meal that I have is a sort of fruit-yogurt-granola bowl. The fruit is just maybe a cup of assorted berries, then 3/4 cup of plain yogurt, then 3/4 cup of homemade granola — consisting of various nuts, raisins, oats, etc. and some maple syrup, brown sugar, and vanilla extract mixed in for flavor.

For breakfast I eat an avocado toast — whole avocado, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice mixed together into a paste and spread on a piece of toasted whole-wheat bread — and scrambled eggs — I melt half a tablespoon of butter, or so, in a pan, and briefly sautée a tablespoon, or so, of diced red onion, them add two eggs into the pan, which I scramble in the pan for 30s, or so, then season with salt, and pepper on top.

Microwave basmati rice and Trader Joe’s microwave yellow tadka dal. Addicted to it right now. Sometimes I’ll slice up half a beef sausage or Polska kielbasa, fry that in a pan for a couple minutes and throw it on top along with some sriracha sauce.

Usually a protein, veg, and rice. Could be chicken, or chickpeas, with beans and rice, perhaps. Just that rice bowl variation.